PRIOR PRACTICE ASSESSMENT

Reflective Essay

Reflecting on my full-time work experiences preceding my enrollment at the BAC, I realize how driven I am to learn through curiosity. My non-linear college experiences have greatly impacted my competence and ability to navigate any situation. The journey to becoming a licensed architect and starting my firm is most informed by the atypical experiences in my life. I am dedicated to learning about all aspects of owning and running a business, and I use my leadership opportunities as entrepreneurial "test drives."

Architecture is a way for me to study human experience–spatially–and spend time with the philosophical meaning of structures and space. Through it, I aim to develop much of my work within adaptive reuse. I am most curious about the aging and weathering of materials over time and the ethics of new construction/development.

Dreyer & Reinbold BMW, Indianapolis, IN. I worked for a cumulative 2 years at BMW and transitioned to my management position after one year as a Porter/Valet. My favorite parts about working at BMW were learning the ins and outs of Service, mastering my client relations/customer service skills, and developing my technical/fabrication skills on the weekends.

As a manager of 15 valets and 75+ loaner vehicles, I was constantly looking for ways to streamline our Service department processes. With loaner agreements, I collaborated with our fleet management company, TSD Mobility Solutions, to improve tracking and customer experience. I set up Geofences within our Telematics tracking to keep detailed records of loaner vehicles that were taken out of the state, surpassed mileage limits, or weren't on an agreement. With it, I added all of the vehicles to BMW's mobile app, MyBMW, so that I could receive notifications when customers got a flat tire in the loaner, got locked out of the car, or were experiencing a bigger issue and needed Roadside Assistance. I developed strong relationships with over 200 clients and quickly became the person who remembered everyone, even from as short as a 5-minute conversation.

I learned how to sort Special Tools and use their respective programs to name and organize them in their specific drawers. The Special Tools coordinate with specific BMW models and repairs/maintenance jobs. BMW technicians use a service program named Online Service System (O.S.S.). O.S.S. is capable of performing automatic electrical resets, displaying wiring diagrams with repair sequences, and pretty much anything else you could need to repair a vehicle (new or old). There are also very specific patterns for repair techniques such as the order of tightening down bolts (which I used while replacing my oil housing gasket). My shop foremen Eliot Tesci and Martin Flores were extremely generous to let me use their welding equipment on the weekends. I assisted in little projects around the dealership, such as TIG welding an aluminum bed for the back of our Service golf cart. I spent time in as many people's shoes as possible at BMW so that I could learn about business management. Not pictured are other tasks such as updating loaner car registrations (for 75 vehicles), adding and retiring loaner vehicles, categorizing parts and their R.O.s (Repair Orders), and service writing. 

It's hard for me to say any less about my time at BMW because I truly feel like I made the most of working full-time during my gap year and a half. There wasn't a minute that I didn't spend chasing my curiosities and looking for ways to serve people better.